It’s been two years since Meze Audio released the already iconic Meze 99 Classics. Our goal? To reach a sort of listening experience that would open gates for the newcomer audio enthusiasts, to introduce more people to the world of audiophilia through a premium headphone at a decent cost. But most of all, it was to create a headphone with soul.

So how does a headphone get a “soul”? Below, we’ll discuss the particularities of the design process of the Meze 99 Classics. How and why it reached its current shape.

Structural components

When industrial designer and owner of Meze Audio, Antonio Meze, set forth to create the Meze 99 Classics, he began with one idea: to keep all the structural components of the 99 Classics visible and pleasing to the eye and touch and still functional.

The idea was not to cut costs but to keep every aspect of the 99 Classics in your face, naked if you will. Thus components like the “monkey” or the “trumpet” are nice details on the headphone but still serve a structural purpose. The “monkey” attaches the soft headrest to the spring steel headband, while the “trumpet” holds together the swivel system that is hidden inside the wooden earcup.

Think of these components as embellished hinges on a baroque door. The hinges have a functional role but they also complement the rest of the structure without seeming out of place.

2 years of development

It is no secret that the Meze 99 Classics underwent a 2-year development process. In this time, we’ve experimented with different headband shapes, sizes, wood variations, and materials. But the wait was not in vain.